Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Aug. 19, 2019:
M&A
- Grand Rapids-based Multi-Automatic Tool & Supply Co., a minority-owned wholesale distributor of machine replacement parts, functional attachments, custom work holding products and cutting tools, acquired Belding-based Belding Tool & Machine, a CNC manufacturer of custom-made parts, precision fixtures and details. Multi-Automatic owner James Byl cited synergies created by the deal as “resulting in a more widely expanded and competitive product offering.” The deal closed on July 10. Multi-Automatic worked with New York-based Redtail Capital Markets as lead arranger. Detroit-based Chemical Bank served as underwriter on the deal, the terms of which were undisclosed.
- Nashville, Mich.-based Kent Oil & Propane Inc., a third-generation family-owned supplier of propane and petroleum light oils, has been acquired by Chicago-based Energy Distribution Partners, according to a statement. Kent Oil serves more than 3,500 customers in central Michigan. The deal allows owner Jeff Hynes to retire. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition was Energy Distribution Partners’ 25th transaction as the company scales up across a 10-state footprint.
- Allegan General Hospital became part of Ascension Michigan on Sunday following the signing of a final definitive agreement. Ascension Michigan’s deal for the 25-bed Allegan General’s parent health system, Allegan Healthcare Group Inc., includes the primary care medical group Allegan Professional Health Services and the Allegan General Hospital Foundation. The acquisition extends Ascension Michigan, parent system to Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo, further across the West Michigan health care market. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
- Ride the Tide Car Wash, an alias of Grand Rapids-based Schlesinger Holdings Inc., was acquired by Tucson, Ariz.-based Mister Car Wash, according to a statement. Ride the Tide operated an express car wash location at 2775 10 Mile Rd. NE in Rockford, north of Grand Rapids. With the deal, Mister Car Wash, a trade name of Car Wash Partners Inc., now has 26 locations in the Michigan market. The consolidator of car washes nationally operates 308 locations in 21 states.
- French Paper Co., a family-owned Niles-based manufacturer of premium colored paper and envelopes for graphic design, specialty prints and gifts, was recently acquired by Glens Falls, N.Y.-based Finch Paper LLC, according to a statement. The company will continue to operate separately from Finch Paper, a platform company of private equity firm Atlas Holdings LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Traverse City-based Schmuckal Oil Co., a family-owned operator of 25 gas station convenience stores in the northern and western Lower Peninsula, has sold its assets to Brecksville, Ohio-based True North Energy LLC, according to a statement. True North Energy is a joint venture formed in 1999 between the Lynden family and the Shell Oil Co. Schmuckal Oil worked with Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc., an independent investment bank based in Richmond, Va., on the structured sale of the family business, which also included a small wholesale fuel and transportation business. Minneapolis, Minn.-based Winthrop & Weinstine PA served as legal counsel for Schmuckal Oil. True North plans to convert all the stores to Shell Oil and rebrand them as Truenorth.
Funding
- Holland-based Jolt Energy Storage Technologies LLC has received $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the development of utility-scale energy storage. The company, founded in 2014, seeks to reduce the cost of battery storage to accompany the growth in renewable energy anticipated in the coming years. Jolt’s technology differs from conventional batteries that package components and rely on materials like lead, cobalt, lithium and manganese. Instead, a flow battery stack and control system regulates materials stored in external tanks that are passed through electrochemical cells. The organic materials used in the process are being developed at Michigan State University’s Bioeconomy Institute in Holland.
Real estate
- Ministry Designs, a communication and web development company, is moving into 15 Carlyle St. in downtown Battle Creek to help develop a new co-working office space dubbed Collab BC, which is expected to open in November, according to a statement. Developers from Restore 269 LLC, working as Record Box LLC, have been redeveloping the 19,000-square-foot, three-story historic building, which also will be home to Handmap Brewing LLC.
Banking
- Grand Rapids-based Independent Bank Corp. (Nasdaq: IBCP) hired Stephen Erickson as its new chief financial officer starting Feb. 1, 2020. He’ll succeed Robert Shuster, Independent Bank’s executive vice president and CFO who retires on Jan. 31. Beginning on Sept. 23, Erickson will serve as executive vice president and treasurer and then succeed Shuster following his retirement. Since March 2018, Erickson has served as the CFO of Midland States Bancorp Inc., a nearly $6 billion bank in Effingham, Ill.
- My Personal Credit Union, based in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming, changed its name to Bloom Credit Union. The name change, effective Aug. 21, seeks “to better represent the organization’s goal of helping people thrive financially,” the credit union said in a statement. Bloom Credit Union, which has five offices in the Grand Rapids area with 14,000 members, reported to federal regulators that it had $140.2 million in total assets and $126.8 million in total deposits as of June 30, according to a quarterly financial report.
- Battle Creek-based Kellogg Community Credit Union will open a newly built full-service branch in October on Gezon Parkway, near an existing location in Metro Health Village in Wyoming. Kellogg Community has 14 offices with 39,654 members, $590.3 million in total assets and $491.6 million in deposits, according to a June 30 quarterly financial report to federal regulators.
Economic development
- Lakeshore Advantage Corp., an economic development organization for Ottawa County, and the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area have completed fundraising efforts for the “Now for the Next” fund and formed a new fund advisory committee. The effort to create a new “economic catalyst” fund raised nearly $1.7 million via investments from 40 individuals and businesses. The advisory committee set the priority of funding “strong economic development operations” led by Lakeshore Advantage. Other areas of investment could include talent development and attraction, community revitalization, education and advanced infrastructure.
- The board of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority selected Torrance Richardson as the new president and CEO of the airport. Richardson most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which oversees three airports in central Ohio. Before working in Columbus, Richardson spent eight years as executive director of airports for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority in Indiana.
Health care
- Mercy Health Saint Mary's in Grand Rapids named Dr. Matt Biersack as its new chief medical officer. He succeeds David Baumgartner, MD, who retired Aug. 30. Biersack began his career as an internal medicine resident at Mercy Health in 2007. He has served in various positions since 2010, including as a full-time hospitalist, as medical director for the Hospitalist Group, and most recently as chief quality and patient safety officer.
